When you start out looking for a home to buy, you might be focused on a wide price range instead of narrowing your selections, and that's perfectly OK. You might say you initially would like to buy a home under a million, but closer to half a million is preferable. Well, that's a HUGE price range (and variance in amenities), and you don't have time, I can assure you, to look at every home under a million in Sacramento. Which means you need to narrow your focus.

Just this morning I talked with a buyer in Sacramento who wants to be near the airport, but he is focusing on Elk Grove, which is not near the airport. He also can't afford much over $350K, so that narrows his focus to an incredibly small number of homes.

Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying expert for About.com, a Land Park resident, and a veteran real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento, as well as tract homes in Elk Grove, Natomas, Roseville and Lincoln. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area with an emphasis on Elk Grove. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 40 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. BRE License # 00697006.

Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate. Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice; it could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.